Popcorn Lung and Vaping is Fake News
Published on August 8, 2025
Today’s media outlets, government officials, and elected representatives continue to falsely link vaping nicotine (i.e., e-cigarettes) to condition called “popcorn lung.” Worse, these views are likely caused by disinformation pushed by “public health groups” such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Lung Association.
“There have been no confirmed cases of popcorn lung in people who use e-cigarettes.”
Health Agencies Have Declared Popcorn Lung a Myth
The UK’s National Health Services “Vaping myths and the facts” page says:
“Fact: Vaping does not cause “popcorn lung”, the common name for a rare disease called bronchiolitis obliterans. The disease was found in a group of factory workers exposed to a chemical (diacetyl) used to flavour popcorn. Diacetyl is contained in cigarette smoke, but it is banned as an ingredient in UK-regulated nicotine vapes and e-liquids.”
Similarly, the Government of Canada’s Health Canada “Risks of vaping” page states:
“Did you know?
Vaping is not known to cause Popcorn lung. Bronchiolitis obliterans (also known as “Popcorn lung”), a chronic disease that damages the small airways in the lungs, has been linked to diacetyl exposure. Diacetyl is a flavouring chemical used to give butter-like and other flavours to food. While once common in vaping products, researchers at Health Canada have in recent years found diacetyl in only 2 samples out of more than 800 vaping liquids available in Canada. To date, there have been no confirmed cases of popcorn lung disease as a result of vaping in Canada.”
To put a finer point on it, Cancer Research UK Confirms Popcorn Lung a Myth:
“Does vaping cause popcorn lung?
- E-cigarettes don’t cause the lung condition known as popcorn lung
- There have been no confirmed cases of popcorn lung reported in people who use e-cigarettes
- E-cigarettes are an option to help people who smoke to stop”
“A Sensational Idea”
This article from the Reason Foundation further debunks the myth that vaping causes popcorn lung and explains how the myth started and why it remains.
Many years ago, a Harvard Study found the substance that causes popcorn lung – diacetyl – present in some e-cigarettes but at very low levels (9 micrograms per cartridge on average). And that is all that the media needed to promote this “sensational idea.” But, as explained by the Reason Foundation, manufacturers stopped using diacetyl in the U.S. voluntarily many years ago.
Today’s Cigarettes Contain 750 Times the Amount of Diacetyl of Versions of E-Cigarettes; And Still No Popcorn Lung
Combustible cigarettes that are being sold in gas stations, convenience stores, pharmacies and grocery stores throughout the U.S. have been found to contain 336 micrograms of diacetyl in each cigarette. There is no comparison between the level of expsoure to diacetyl in cigarettes compared to vapes, and still there has been no link between smoking cigarettes and “popcorn lung.”
“The 2015 Harvard study, for example, found an average of nine micrograms of diacetyl per e-cigarette cartridge in the samples that tested positive for the chemical. Combustible cigarettes, meanwhile, contain approximately 336 micrograms of diacetyl per cigarette. This means that a cartridge-per-day vaper would be exposed to just nine micrograms of diacetyl, while pack-per-day smokers are exposed to more than 6,700 micrograms of diacetyl every day—750 times more diacetyl exposure than vapers. Yet, a link between smoking and popcorn lung has yet to materialize.”
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